BCSP Notes . . .

"The Mary McLeod Bethune and Talmadge Layman Hill Awards are emblematic of the overall strength of the MEAC institutions men's and women's athletics programs," stated MEAC Commissioner Dr. Dennis Thomas. "I commend Hampton University for achieving excellence in both their men's and women's programs and winning both awards for the 2003-04 academic year.'

Hampton's women provided much of the same from last season when they captured four of the eight MEAC women's championships and one second-place finish. In 2003-04 the Lady Pirates repeated as champions in basketball, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field and tennis, while taking second place in cross country. They finished with 69.5 total points. Howard was second in the women's race with 62.5 points and Florida A&M finished third with 50.5 points.

In the men's race, the Pirates edged out Norfolk State 55.5 to 54. Once again the outdoor track & field championship, the Pirates' only title, would push the Pirates to the top. Hampton finished in the top four in all other championships. Florida A&M, who missed the cross country championships due to a bus accident and did not earn points for football, finished third with 46 points.

The Mary McLeod Bethune Award, named after the founder of Bethune-Cookman College, is awarded to the top overall women's athletic program during the course of one full academic year. The first Mary McLeod Bethune Award was given in 1987 to Delaware State University. Florida A&M leads all MEAC schools with nine awards from 1993-2000. Hampton and Howard have three each, Delaware State has two and South Carolina State has one.

The men's All-Sports Award is named after the late Talmadge Layman Hill, a former player and coach at Morgan State, and former chairman of the MEAC Steering and Planning Committee, as well as the league's first President. Howard University was the recipient of the first Talmadge Layman Hill Award in 1972. South Carolina State has won a league-leading 11 Hill Awards (1974-1984), followed by Florida A&M with 10. Delaware State, Hampton and Howard have three each, North Carolina A&T has two and Morgan State and Norfolk State have one each.

JSU's Lange tops Diamond Awardees
Jackson State outfielder Bryant Lange leads a list of the top black college baseball performers unveiled this week by BlackCollegeBaseball.com.

Lange, a 5-11, 180-pound junior from Riverdale, Ga., who won both the player of the year and outstanding hitter awards in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, scorched pitchers for a .439 batting average and also stole 29 bases in 31 attempts. He leads a list of awardees selected from nineteen Division I programs which included the SWAC, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Chicago State of the Mid-Continent and Savannah State.

The Coach of the Year Award went to Prairie View A&M head coach Michael Robertson. In his second year at the helm, Robertson guided the Panthers into the BlackCollegeBaseball.com rankings. The Panthers improved by leaps and bounds from a 2003 record of 10-45 to a 2004 record of 30-26.

Delaware State junior hurler Shawn Phillips compiled an 8-2 record with a 2.19 ERA to earn the Pitcher of the Year Award. In 94.2 innings pitched, Phillilps walked 11 while striking out 92.

Sports information directors and their baseball contacts are the ones that get the information on black college baseball out to the public. Stan Bradley of Maryland-Eastern Shore got out timely press releases for every UMES game and earned the site's SID of the year award.

BlackCollegeBaseball.com is billed as the home of black college baseball and was started by founder Ruffin Bell, III because " there was no central media outlet available to Division I HBCU baseball teams. It lets me tackle or disseminate issues about Black College Baseball," he says on the website.

Bell explains that outside of the MEAC and SWAC, there is one black head coach at the over 160 NCAA Div. I institutions. That one head coach, former Major League batting star Tony Gwynn at San Diego State, donated the money for the school's Tony Gwynn Stadium and his son plays there. He also started this fall. The much publicized debate over blacks earning a chance to coach in NCAA football is worse in baseball, says Bell.

The site only covers Division I black college teams for now and includes a message board for discussion and dialogue on related issues and events. Plans are to expand the site as scores and articles from other conferences are forwarded.

COACH
Michael Robertson, Prairie View A&M
PLAYER
Bryant Lange, OF, Jackson State
PITCHER
Shawn Phillips, RHP, Delaware State
SID
Stan Bradley, Maryland-Eastern Shore

First Team  1B, Juan Figueroa, Bethune Cookman College 2B, Juan Serrano, Norfolk State University 3B, Carlos Garcia, Bethune Cookman College SS, Justin Riggs, Coppin State University C, Ralph Johnson, Jackson State University OF, Bryant Lange, Jackson State University OF, Sebastian Boucher, Bethune Cookman College OF, Stephen Washington, Prairie View A&M University Pitchers SP, Francisco Gomez, Bethune Cookman College SP, Shawn Phillips, Delaware State University SP, Michael Hauff, North Carolina A&T University SP, Jose Pena, Southern University RP, Nick Bitter, Delaware State University RP, A.J. Corbin, Norfolk State University

Second Team  1B, Byron Carter, Prairie View A&M University 2B, Corey Wimberley, Alcorn State University 3B, Andrew Toussaint, Southern University SS, Jermel Lomack, Prairie View A&M University C, Edgar Wilson, Coppin State University OF, James Cooper, Grambling State University OF, Roberto Rodriguez, Bethune Cookman College OF, Gerald Miller, Prairie View A&M University Pitchers SP, Jarred Vaughn, Jackson State University SP, Ian Digiorgio, North Carolina A&T University SP, Jermaine Shack, Mississippi Valley State Univ. SP, Steve Acuna, Mississippi Valley State Univ. RP, Colin Irvine, Bethune Cookman College RP, Andrew Cunha, Mississippi Valley State Univ.

© 2004 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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